Canbank fund pumps funds into StartupXseed Ventures
Canbank Venture Capital Fund Limited (CVCFL) has invested in Bengaluru-based deep technology focussed venture firm StartupXseed Ventures LLP, accounting for 20 percent of the fund size of the latter.
With this collaboration, StartupXseed plans to expand its portfolio and reach out to more entrepreneurs with newer inventions in the technological space, which could disrupt the global market.
Speaking on the collaboration, BV Naidu, Managing Partner, StartupXseed Ventures said, “We are very excited to receive the investment from CVCFL and it will accelerate our investment plans to invest in the areas of Deep Technologies like Nano Electronics, AI/ML, Cyber Security, Semiconductor, and IoT.”
The Rs 100-crore Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-registered fund, was founded by technology industry leaders of Bengaluru — TV Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan, former directors at Infosys, B V Naidu, former director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) — looks out for early-stage companies who have deep technology-focused skills, but need support infrastructure to scale and grow business.
StartupXseed Ventures focuses on B2B businesses opportunities and it has previously invested in companies like “ShieldSquare”, “Aarav Unmanned Systems”, “AIBono” (formerly Airwood Aerostructures)”, “DarwinBox” and “Siliconch Systems.” All these firms have raised capital in subsequent rounds.
Canbank Venture Capital Fund Limited (CVCFL) is a venture capital firm set up by Canara Bank.
According to K Baskaran, MD, CVCFL, “An experienced founding team, technology focus towards sectors under Electronics Development Fund (EDF) and the network of StartupXseed Ventures make a great choice for EDF (a $330 million Fund of Funds) to commit 20 percent of the fund managed by StartupXseed. We are excited to be a part of the journey and believe it will serve the purpose of EDF and Government of India to boost entrepreneurs and the startup eco-system overall.”
StartupXseed Ventures is planning to invest in new and emerging technologies like Blockchain, Cloud Technologies, AI for different Business Applications and are also looking into possible synergies of current and new investments in the future.
Quite a few private and public sector banks with deep reserves are now playing venture capitalists to startups thereby encouraging entrepreneurship. These include SBI, ICICI, HDFC, and Axis Bank among others. They have formed separate lending teams to fund small startups, mainly for the second and third rounds of funding.